Woody Woodburn: This Penny glitters like gold

With Valentine’s Day nearly here, a love story seems appropriate today. Meet Taylor Penny, the comely young woman in this storybook tale, with charisma by the bucketful and an ever-ready smile that can light up a moonless night.

The latter is testament to her sunny spirit because growing up Taylor often had little reason to smile.

“We struggled a lot and moved a lot,” says Taylor, who came to Oxnard from Las Vegas at age 8 with her mother and younger brother. “We had hard times getting a roof over our heads.”

Indeed, her childhood was as nomadic as a circus. Taylor, who recently turned 19, remembers changing addresses at least twice a year, every year. And that doesn’t include the 11 times the single-mom family lived in motels for months at a time.

She does not remember ever having her own room, her own closet, even her own bed. And when you share a mattress with your mom you can’t very well invite a friend for a sleepover.

By necessity Taylor grew up quickly. When her mom was out of work, Taylor used her own hard-earned paycheck from an after-school job to help pay the rent and buy groceries.

“I was the only one with a job for a while in high school,” Taylor shares. “I knew I had to help support my family. It took a toll and sometimes I felt like giving up.”

Tears fell, but Taylor refused to. Despite a burden not meant for teenage shoulders, she graduated with honors from Oxnard High School last June. This proud feat is all the more remarkable when you know this: Taylor’s dad didn’t graduate high school; her mom barely did; and her older sister dropped out after becoming pregnant.

And, yet, the statistics were surprisingly in Taylor’s favor.

You see, she is a longtime member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme; in Ventura County, 97 percent of club participants pass the high school exit exam and the teen pregnancy rate is zero.

The relationship has been Taylor-made as evidenced by her being named the 2012 California State Boys & Girls Club “Youth of the Year” runner-up. Indeed, while she often didn’t know where the next roof over her head would be, for the past decade Taylor has always had a home.

“The club has been my one constant,” she says. “It’s my second home, my second family. They have given me love and support.”

As I said, this is a love story. So let me now introduce you to three key members of Taylor’s “second family” — Kathleen Booth, Erin Antrim and Kara Brown. Together they are known as “Team Taylor” for the way they have mentored her in most every way imaginable.

While Taylor long ago lost count of the number of places she has lived, for as long as she can remember she has had one major goal: “My life dream has been to go to a four-year college.”

Attending a university is a Mount Everest-like challenge when no one in your family has done so before, but Taylor has scaled the peak. She is a freshman at Washington State University; moreover, she earned all A’s and B’s her first semester.

“Taylor is an amazing role model,” says Tim Blaylock, chief professional officer for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme. After a moment’s pause, he clarifies his point: “Not just to other kids, but to adults. She deserves all the credit for what she has accomplished and will continue to accomplish.”

Taylor disagrees: “I wouldn’t be in college without the club.”

They are surely both correct.

Reflecting on her hardscrabble past, Taylor’s indefatigable strength and optimism are fully revealed: “My life got super hard at times, but I always think of the people who have it worse than me. I’ve never faced death; I’ve never lost anyone. We had a roof. We had food, even if sometimes only a little. When I wanted to give up I just remembered what I want in the future.”

As Taylor says this, the motto of the Boys & Girls Club is visible behind her: “Great Futures Start Here!”